Canada has the Dangerous Offender designation
Dangerous offender - Wikipedia
Basically it means that if a person is designated as such, he would probably remain in prison indefinitely.
And yeah, the difference between 1st and 2nd degree is the minimum number of years before being eligible for parole
1st degree - 25years min, crown/prosecution must prove that this was planned and deliberate murder
2nd degree - 10years min, could be a person killed someone without any kind of planning, botched robbery, etc.
Manslaughter - 0years min, someone died as a result of a person's actions, however it was an accident and no one was supposed to be hurt
Shooting of LF and CD isn't 1st degree unless the crown/prosecution can prove that they stalked, targeted and
thought of a plan well before hand to kill them.